Decorah-posten., 1887-05-25

GtOIlulHVE NAV
nullify the veto. The executive brancI
Oh government rests in the hands of
ministers and councillors who preside
0Ver departments, exactly as do our
CABINET Ministers-the King selecting
these as the President does his Cabinet.
ana governmental responsibility rests
upoTothls council of State.
In other respect parallels might he
Drawn; but this is enough to illustrate
now much self-government was secured
by the people in the bill of rights. written
IN Norwegian history the 18th of Nav
This national birthday and our own
are therefore, members of the same
family. They are brothers in the kin
ship OF national events. The father of
both is Liberty; the mother Freedom.
one thought underlies both; one shirt
anlmates them; and instead of impro-
priety there is great fitness that this day.
ana every other similar day, shall be
duly remembered by a people whose
mission it is to hold aloft the torch If
human liberty until it shall enlighten the
whole world.
DO we gather to-day simply to dwell
upon the past?--merely to glory in
former achievements, because by them
we ENJOY present benefits? 1t would be
a confession of degeneracy to admit this;
and we cannot do it. The ancient Jew
mad his day of %deliverence' from bondage
commemorated by the great Feast of the
Passover. And, as the pious Jews
assembled annually to observe the
Feast, the youngest boy was commission
ed to ask What mean We by these OBJ
s~ervances?' And the patriarch would
rehearse in fitting language the story of
thelr dellverance by an all-wise Father
who had a special mission for this nation
TO perform. Thus the story was told
from generation to generation, for
hundreds of years; and we may uppos
that even yet, year by year, there are
are gathered groups in which this simple
ceremony is dutifully performed. This
was the divine method of perpetuating
history; by writing upon the hearts of
the story, never to be forgotten, of
what He had done for them: and teach
ing the people their dependence upon
Him.
In our day there are better and more
perfect methods of perpetuating history;
we gather in the same spirit, and the
results are the same. The youth of every
age cares little for the significance of
great events. 1t is enough for him to
enjoy for the passing hour the pleasures
and privileges they bring to him. The
boy rollicks in the noise and confusion
of the Fourth of July, while the grand
sire esteems these as the disagreeable
through which the lad is to
grow into a truer conception of what
event means to him and the children
that shall inhabit this portion of the
American continent for all coming time.
Out of the boom of cannon and the blare
of drums and bands, will grow in time
a sense of what is behind and beyond
all this %momentary display; and when
the day and the hour shall demand of
him the display of that patriotic spirit
animated his grandsires when
fought the battles of the Revolution
the demand will not be in vain. So it
in 1861, when defence of national
unity called the people or this country
w Viz ANlNCot ahu SlCdttst ClNh al oh |
the pages of human history. 1t had
been said the spirit of patriotism was
dying out. But not so. When the time
and occasion called for a display of de-
and love for home and native
land, there was a manifestation Of this
sentiment such as astonished the world,
and it learned that while it was given
the fathers to establish the American
it was the mission of the gener-
alton now passing away to preserve it,
and hand it down, glorified by a baptism
Of blood, to the generations yet unborn.
But is the work all done? Are we to
lay the happy heirs to an inheritance,
with nothing to do but live and enjoy?I
would it were so. But it is not. The
war of the rebellion settled one question
the Union is one and indivisible
for all time to come. The time was
when this pas the n supreme cause for
doubt in the perpetuity of our govern
ment. But other dangers press upon us;
and strangely enough they follow in the
wake of national success in maintaining
our own existence. Constituted as our
.populace is, of representatives of all
races in the wide world, the excellence
Of a Republican form of government lies
in the fact that out of every other sys-
tenn the wise men and the philosophers
nav bring TO us the best results which
have been achieved elsewhere, and help
rs to engraft them upon our national
Tree of life. But are the wise results,
and the best things of other countries,
alone offered us? Are we asked to use
only these in building the great temple
Of liberty, not yet completed, but grow
ing into grand proportions under the
hands of our master builders? Think OF
the millions landing upon our shores,
homes with us, and in a few
years demanding the privilege of sharing
IN control of the destinies of this nation.
Along with the good and pure are the
bad and Indifferent; side by side with
the sage and philosopher are the ignor-
ant and stupid; j~ostling each other are
the Christian teachers and the vicious
and criminal classes-all to be received
and assimilated into the great mass we
call the body polite. And is it not to
be feared that by far too large a proper
ton come from the classes we regard as
ignorant and vicious? In many nations
.Loro 20 On unrost-a GROWING resistance |